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Sunday, March 20, 2016

My Fitness Pal & Fooducate

Daily intake: 1200 - 1600 (try to average around 1400 to lose a few pounds). I don't add my exercise calories to that daily total. I don't eat less than 1200 because that's "starvation mode".

My Fitness Pal keeps me on track as far as if I've had too many added sugars and things like that.

I fooducate everything but fruits and veggies. I eat some C's in minimal amounts but try to stay B and above for everything else.  My soy sauce, which I use a lot of, gets a C+ (for salt which I don't mind, because I only use a little..and also because of sodium benzoate, which I don't know much about but fooducate doesn't like). Beef broths are hard to find something B or above, and tend to be highly processed. Again, I use a small amount and am searching for a healthier alternative. Sometimes just cooking wine/olive oil is nice, but it lacks some of the flavor that adding a small amount of beef broth/soy sauce would improve.

I allow one half cheat day per week and then if someone brings in donuts or I want to stop and get a starbucks, I'll have just one donut or a late.

When I find recipes online, I use pieces of them, and leave out the stuff I don't want like brown sugar). They still taste fine, to me!

Planning ahead helps too. If I have one dish in a crock pot, and 1-2 in a baking pan in the fridge ready to go, I will be much less likely to grab something quick on the way home. Same goes for lunches - if I have everything prepped for the week on Sunday night, I can just easily grab what I want out of the fridge in the morning. Some ideas here: http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Healthy-Kitchen-Hacks-Weight-Loss-40149161#photo-40149783

Drinks:
Water (spice it up with these ideas) http://www.theyummylife.com/Flavored_Water or even more simple is what I prefer, I will just squeeze in a lemon and that does it for me.
Decaf coffee/tea (one caffeinated beverage a day). I use 1 bad for you creamer a day (individual serving...should probably switch to something healthier like almond milk...)

Breakfast:
Eggs (w/ olive oil or coconut oil), scrambled w/ cup of spinach plus or minus other veggies (often avocado, tomato)

Snacks:
Granola bar (KIND - Dark chocolate cherry cashew or other B+ or higher)
Cheese (baby bel - light)
Shredded cabbage (stir fried with olive oil and splash of soy sauce)
Steamed artichoke (no butter)
Air popped popcorn (spray olive oil/garlic salt)
Fruits
Baked cauliflower w/ tumeric
Steamed broccoli

Lunch/Dinner:
Chicken breast with...
-quinoa (can season with mexican/avocado/black beans, or soy sauce/chives/garlic/onion). Easy to bake or crock pot. Can use italian seasoning like this, but without raisins:
http://simplynourishedrecipes.com/sweet-potato-broccoli-chicken-bake/
Or a healthy beef broth like this:
http://www.purplecarrotkc.com/2011/11/quick-delicious-roasted-vegetable.html
-zoodles (zucchini noodles with olive oil/dash of wine or soy sauce). Stir fry.
-grilled veggies such as peppers, tomatoes, onions, chives, broccoli, green beans (use soy sauce, Worcestershire, olive oil, basil and garlic marinade). Grilled.
-Honey/soy sauce/garlic and peppers or carrots in crock pot. I do stuff similar to this, but leave out the crap like the brown sugar/flour, and it still tastes good. http://www.thecookierookie.com/honey-garlic-baked-chicken/
-stir fry (bag of frozen veggies, with beef broth, soy sauce, vinegar, wine, cornstarch, garlic..a weee bit of peanut/sesame oil..)

Portabello mushrooms with...
-leeks/onions/tomatoes. Bake/stir fry. Similar here: http://www.treehugger.com/easy-vegetarian-recipes/grilled-portobello-mushrooms-stuffed-sauteed-leeks-spinach-vegan.html
-pasta & homemade pesto (use healthy pasta - fooducate it, I use Daily Chef which gets a B+ bc has no added sugars, has fiber, etc- and pay attention to serving size. Cook it firm bc lower glycemic index is better.

Ground beef/turkey with....
-rinsed black beans and mexican seasoning (cumin, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, garlic) on spinach with greek yogurt/avocado. You can squish up 2 quinoa tortilla chips and sprinkle on top so it has a crunch. You could also do lettuce leaf tacos.
-Homemade pesto and healthy pasta
-Baked ziti (just use limited pasta and don't go overboard on the cheese. Include spinach in the sauce).

Fish with...
-cabbage (stir fry with soy sauce)

Eating out but still trying to be healthy:
Subway- 6 inch turkey breast on wheat, pepperjack cheese, veggies

Dessert:
Frozen banana with < 1 tablespoon almond butter in food processor, similar here:
http://userealbutter.com/2010/08/12/single-ingredient-ice-cream-recipe/
Frozen watermelon with water (no juice added)
Greek yogurt w/ dark chocolate and frozen fruit. Add sprinkle of cereal/granola for crunch.

Common Foods & Ratings

 











Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Settling in

My husband and I relocated from Grand Forks, ND to Bismarck ND in late 2014. Upon our decision to move, we began hunting for a place to live and ran into something we'd not really had to deal with before - a very "non-pet friendly" city. Living in Fort Collins near the vet school, it wasn't too difficult to find rentals that allowed large pets. Bismarck was another story, however! After quite a bit of research, we realized that the only option that made sense for our family (us and our two large dogs) was house ownership. This was a pretty giant leap from our original plan to rent and needless to say we were a bit nervous. We heard arguments from both sides - the "pro" owners and those who warned us against buying property in a town we weren't familiar with. We decided the proposed benefits of owning outweighed the risks and purchased our first home.

So far, house ownership is bittersweet. I'm the sweet - my husband is the bitter (I'm kidding..sort of)! It's wonderful to have the settled feeling that comes with owning something. It's also a heavy responsibility (here we go, further into adulthood..how does that happen without me noticing?!). I tend to be more relaxed about things like a toilet that won't stop running. My husband on the other hand, does not handle broken things well at all, and therefore spends quite a bit of time and energy struggling with this part of house ownership. I'm the less practical house owner, as evidenced by my excitement to hang things on the walls and landscape the yard with flowers that attract lots of butterflies. However you look at it, we're in the adventure together, which has made the ups more entertaining and the downs more bearable.

Since moving in in November, we've got things pretty much unpacked and organized. The last step was the craft room (being as it was my room, and it takes me absolutely forever to get anything done. Aside from my unmatched abilities to procrastinate, I feel I have to be in the right kind of mood to express my creative side. If I'm not feeling it, I just can't figure out how to organize items or hang pictures on the wall in a pleasing manner. Heck, even when I am in the right mood...well, anyway. You can see how this might bother my husband greatly, as he is the type who must fix, finish, complete any broken, incomplete task as soon as humanly possible.

Anyway, since all scrapbooking activities halted my 3rd and 4th year in vet school, I've got a lot of catching up to do, and more time to do it with my new life in Bismarck. The past few weeks I was able to muster enough creativity to organize the craft room. I'm pleased with the results (no Martha Stewart here, but it suits me!), take a look at the pictures below!


Scraping work space. Cube units from Target. Desk top upcycled from the old piano we found in the basement!




Friday, August 9, 2013

1 year married

Today celebrates my husband and I's one year anniversary! It's sad that he is currently deployed, and I miss him a ton, but it's fun to remember our gorgeous wedding! Some of my favorite pictures are below, to remember the day!



















Location: Lionscrest Manor, Lyons CO
Decor: Tammy Milner
Photography: Elegant Image
Hair & Makeup: Europa Salon & Spa